Doppelganger
by the.tighter.end
Summary: The homicide of a woman who could pass as Jane's twin leaves Maura and the rest of the team shaken - even more so when it becomes evident that the victim's resemblance to the detective is no coincidence. Emotions run high, feelings are felt, repressed longings finally crack through the surface, etc... Rizzles... because of course Rizzles. rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**So... This is my first attempt at fanfic since I wrote a Troi/Riker story in the 10th grade (luckily, that particular piece has been lost somewhere in the dark recesses of the internet.) Please be kind.**

**More chapters to come, will eventually evolve to M rating in future chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to whoever is in charge of that sort of thing. Please don't sue.**

* * *

**Doppelganger - Chapter 1**

* * *

"Beginning autopsy of Jeanne Rodriguez..."

Even their initials were the same. Maura paused the voice recorder for a moment. Never in her life had she not been able to compartmentalize her work and her emotions - but this woman on the slab looked so remarkably like Jane... She shook her head as if to clear it, took several deep breaths as if to settle the darkness.

"Victim is female, 36 years old..."

* * *

"So she kinda looks like me! What's the big deal?"

Jane stared at the board.

"No, she looks like your twin. Did you see how pale Dr. Isles went when she did her initial exam?" Korsack's gruff voice belied his protective concern.

"I'm sure she's fine." but Jane bit her lip while her stomach did little circles around itself.

Not that she liked the idea of Maura being upset, not at all... but the possibility that Maura cared enough to be noticeably affected by a body that, admittedly, did bear a striking resemblance to her... the implications of that opened a door to all sorts of potential feelings the doctor might be keeping under wraps. If Maura was harboring anything like the sweet and swelling emotions Jane was constantly trying to keep at bay... well, that was almost too good to think about.

* * *

"I brought dinner. Since I know you worked through yours." Jane held up the take out bag, smiling in Maura's direction.

The medical examiner was still hunched over the body, intently studying something that was most likely very important but to Jane just looked squishy and vaguely unpleasant. When there was no acknowledgement, Jane added,

"It's healthy stuff. With quinoa. And sprouts. Mmm... sprouts. You luhhvve sprouts..."

Still no response.

"Maura!" Finally the doctor glanced up and Jane noticed the tiny ear buds she was wearing as she removed them.

"Oh. Hello Jane." Maura's greeting was less than warm. Not quite icy... but a far cry from what Jane was expecting.

"Dinner?" Jane lifted the bag in Maura's direction once again.

"Thank you. Could you just put it in my office please? I'm not at a good stopping point at the moment." She barely looked at the detective.

Jane was taken aback by Maura's coolness towards her, but she had a pretty good idea what was really bothering the doctor - and she wasn't going to be held outside the castle walls that easily.

After depositing the take out on Maura's impossibly neat desk, Jane walked back into the morgue. Maura was once again wearing the ear phones. Jane, undaunted, cupped her hands around her lips and yelled,

"WHATCHA LISTENING TO?"

With an irritated sigh, Maura ripped the ear buds out once again.

"Jane. I am in the middle of an important procedure."

"I can see that. Whatcha listening to?" Jane offered the doctor a lopsided grin.

Hard shell still not cracking, Maura shot hazel-eyed daggers at the detective.

"If you must know, I'm listening to a meditation guide. On detachment."

Feeling her own irritation surge, Jane fired back.

"I'd say you've pretty much got that nailed, Maura."

As soon as the words escaped her lips, Jane saw that they'd hit their mark... probably a little harder than she'd meant them to. Maura's eyes shone with the hint of tears for a split second before something like green fire took over, even as Maura's body language and voice became glacial.

"Detective. If you don't have anything to say related to the case, I'd like to return to the victim on my table." She put the ear phones back in place.

Jane knew Maura thought she'd succeeded in pushing her away with the cold, rigid dismissal. And with anyone else, she would have - but Jane saw right through the protective layer Maura tried to wrap around herself. Jane crossed the morgue in a few purposeful strides and pulled the ear buds out, forcefully enough that Maura let out a small gasp. Jane was almost nose to nose with the doctor and her voice was deep and serious, with the beginning edges of a growl.

"What the hell is going on with you Maura?!"

Jane was angry by this point, even though she thought she knew the root of Maura's detached coldness. She thought she knew, but she needed Maura to say it...

"Jane!"

The blonde doctor raised her voice - not quite to the level of a yell (at least not to Jane) - but definitely dripping with her own anger.

"Maura, please. I can tell when something's wrong. Best detective in Boston, remember?" Jane's voice softened a little, but, while her words carried some levity, her eyes were dark, intense and pleading.

"Maura, please."

Maura sighed again, though this time it was more out of resignation that frustration. She snapped off her gloves and tossed them into a nearby trash can. Wordlessly, she reached for a Petrie dish containing a small, blood-soaked slip of paper and handed it to Jane.

Though it was semi-obscured by the blood staining, Jane was able to clearly make out the message.

REMIND YOU OF ANYONE, DR. ISLES?  
THIS IS JUST THE DRESS REHEARSAL...

Maura watched Jane intently, saw the slight stiffening of her jaw... the flash in her eye... the goosebumps along her arm. A split second later, however, Jane set the Petrie dish down.

"Ok, so we just have one more good reason to find the bastard." Jane shrugged like she hadn't just received a death threat.

"I found that inserted into the bullet hole through the victim's right oblique and small bowel... Jane, her wound is almost identical to yours..." Maura trailed off, paused and composed herself, reestablishing the detachment that kept her calm. Kept her safe.

"It's fine, Maura. We'll catch him, it's no big thing." Jane cloaked herself in confidence and swagger the same way Maura hid inside facts and behind sheets of ice.

"Fine Jane. I'm glad YOU'RE not upset about this. Will you please let me return to my work now?"

"Don't go all "Dr. Isles" on me again, Maura."

Jane grabbed Maura's wrist as she began to reach for a new pair of latex gloves.

"Don't shut me out... please. Tell me what you need from me..."

Jane could feel Maura's pulse racing under her fingers. It felt like electricity.

"I want you to admit that you're scared too Jane!"

**to be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

Maura's lower lip quivered and she pulled her arm from Jane's grasp. The physical contact was too much, too real... too good. Right now, she needed her anger, undiluted, to hold back the fear pounding just beneath it.

"You just brush things off, dismiss any threat-"

"Maura, I-" Jane tried but Maura cut her off.

"No! I know you are brave and selfless and used to putting your life on the line - but this is different. Someone is after _you_ specifically - _again_ \- but this time you don't even know who."  
Maura didn't need to say his name out loud for the memory of Charles Hoyt to move through each of them like a shudder.

Jane's hands began to ache.

"I haven't found a single hair, a foreign fiber, a bullet fragment... No fingerprints, no DNA... He could be anyone... and you don't seem to even give a damn." Maura's voice was thick and she blinked back angry tears.  
"You aren't untouchable, Jane!"

Almost frantically, Jane put her hands on Maura's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. Maura's breath caught in her throat as she felt the detective's powerful grip - stared, captivated, by the intensity boiling in Jane's stare. She felt a surge of adrenaline, a combination of anger and attraction and need. Jane's eyes were dark and burning. Maura swallowed hard.

"You think I'm not scared?" Jane's voice caught and broke at the end of the question. Maura saw the fear then, felt it in the slight shake of Jane's hands, saw it in the beginnings of tears in Jane's eyes. It was heart crushing.

"Jane..." Maura's voice was low and soft now. Jane realized how tightly she was gripping the doctor's arms and let her go abruptly. Maura felt empty at the loss of contact, but Jane's gaze was still locked on hers.

"I'm terrified, Maura."

Her eyes dropped for a moment, ashamed of herself for showing any kind of crack in the armor. But the crack was spreading quickly and when she looked up again, she had tears rolling down her cheeks. Maura had the almost overwhelming urge to pull the detective into her arms.

"The only way I know how to keep going, to keep fighting and to not just... lose my shit completely... is to convince everyone - and myself - that I'm tough and hard enough to let it roll off my fucking shoulders. To not give a Fuck that I'm being hunted like some kind of fucking animal."

Jane's voice broke completely then and she dropped her head into her hands, trying unsuccessfully to muffle a sob.

This time, Maura did not fight the urge to wrap her arms tightly around the detective.

Jane responded by holding fast to the doctor, burying her face in blonde waves. As Jane choked out a few more sobs, Maura said nothing but rubbed slow circles on Jane's trembling back. The detective's vulnerability, the raw honesty behind her tears, made Maura's stomach and heart clench. She loved Jane and she loved her all the more for having the strength to admit fear.

Abruptly, Jane tried to end the embrace, clearing her throat and mumbling apologies for crying. This time it was Maura who took Jane roughly by the shoulders.

With a calm authority she hardly knew she possessed, she looked Jane squarely in the eye.

"You do not get to apologize for showing emotion. Not to me."

Jane, caught off guard by the power behind Maura's words, simply nodded.

Something passed between them in that moment - like sprockets clicking another notch forward. Maura saw the change in Jane's eyes and felt her heart leap. Admitting her fears, letting Maura see the soft underbelly she'd put so much effort for so long into hiding (even though Maura had always known it was there... had been craving even a glimpse of it...) made Jane feel strange and light. The relief was palpable. Instead of weak and damaged, she felt strong and whole. She had revealed the broken bits and Maura was still there... still there and still gazing into her eyes like she could see her soul.

A new courage roared to life within Jane and she did possibly the bravest thing she'd ever done.

Her hand found the small of Maura's back and pulled her body flush against her own. Maura gasped and Jane's heart thundered in her chest. With her other hand, Jane gently cupped Maura's jaw line. She ran her thumb over a soft bottom lip and Maura gripped tightly to the sides of Jane's shirt. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, Jane lowered her mouth to Maura's. The kiss was brief, delicate, asking a question that was quickly answered. If the first kiss asked "May I?" Maura's reply said "God, yes"

Years of contained emotion and longing came pouring out in a tangle of tongues and low, soft sounds. When they finally broke apart, they stayed close - foreheads touching, breathing in the same air, the scents of each other.


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of voices in the hall made them jump apart. Jane cleared her throat, tried to tone down a loopy smile. Maura busied herself with putting on a new pair of gloves, hands trembling slightly.

The doors to the morgue opened and Korsack walked in.

"Rizzoli - we might have a witness on the body dump. Got him upstairs."

With a longing glance at Maura, Jane sighed.

"Ok, sure. Maura - I'll... talk to you later, alright?" Maura just nodded, not trusting her own voice.

By the time she'd finished questioning the "witness" and getting nowhere (he'd been very drunk at the time and was exceptionally fuzzy on the details) it was after 11. Exhausted, Jane sent Maura a text on her way to her car.

-Maur - finally done. going home to crash. so tired. will talk tomorrow, ok?-

She had to park 2 blocks away from her house and kept her hand on her gun as she walked, eyes darting at every shadow...

* * *

Jane hung up the phone, finished off her coffee. After speaking with the warden where Charles Hoyt had been held, she had the promise of interviews with senior staff members. Hopefully, she'd shake out a lead - a passing reflection, some glimmer of a puzzle piece would shine through years later and point the way to who might be conjuring Hoyt's memory. Copies of the files on inmates with whom Hoyt had been housed or been known to consort were on their way as well.

Jane was still on edge but satisfied that she'd had as productive a morning as she might have hoped, given the emotional peaks and valleys of the last 24 hours. Jane leaned back for a moment and closed her eyes, knuckles dug deep into her temples.

"Glad to see you're working as hard as the rest of us, Rizzoli, tracking down you're new secret admirer." Startled and irritated, Jane snapped forward in her chair, narrowly avoided flying out of it.

"Shut the fuck up, Crowe." she snapped back. "You're not even assigned to this case." His smirk faltered and Jane allowed a small one of her own, noting what she thought was the hint of jealousy in Crowe's eyes. Jane grabbed her coat, wondering as she sauntered past the detective, if that twinge of envy stemmed from not being on the investigation or not being the target. Neither would have surprised her, given Crowe's ego.

* * *

"He's just such a... smarmy little jackass." Jane bit aggressively into a french fry. Maura almost felt sorry for it, taking the brunt of Jane's frustration. Then the image of being bitten by Jane flashed across her mind and she quickly busied herself stirring her iced tea, tried to stop blushing. Jane stabbed another fry into the ketchup and chewed angrily. Maura cleared her throat.

"Did u know that smarmy originated from the old English 'smalm' meaning to smear with pomade? However, it's noun and adjective forms, as well as it's use to describe someone unpleasant did not appear until the early 1900s."

Jane swallowed, stared blankly at her for a moment.

"Yes... I took all of that into consideration when I used it.."

"Really?!" Maura nearly squeaked.

"No, not even a little bit."

"Oh." Maura always felt a little awkward when she failed to notice sarcasm - but Jane's lopsided smile was so genuinely warm, any hint of embarrassment dissipated as quickly as it came.

Neither woman had mentioned their earlier kiss yet and, despite an easy conversation over lunch focused on work related things, both were beginning to wonder when and if to acknowledge the elephant at the table.

"Jane I-"

"So, Maur -" They both began at the once, smiled, blushed lightly and began again.

"So, Jane-"

"Maura, I-"

Jane held up her hand, took the reigns. There was a gleam in her eyes, but determination etched across her face. She slid her hands over the table until they covered Maura's.

"Maura, I... I want to have this conversation - not at the Dirty Robber - but I do very much want - " she squeezed Maura's hands. "-to have this...conversation...with you."

While Jane might not always have been good with words and Maura not always good with clues, there was no mistaking exactly what Jane meant.

* * *

It was 7:30 by the time Maura arrived home, carrying Italian take-out she knew Jane loved and a six pack of local beer she knew Jane loved even more. She left the food in the oven to warm and placed the beer and white wine she's bought for herself in the freezer to chill. Working quickly, she managed to set the table, toss a simple salad, feed Bass, set food out for Jo, and tell Angela how exhausted she and Jane were while gracefully wishing her good night - all before Jane let herself in the front door at 7:58.

Jo jangled gleefully across the kitchen, rolling on her back and licking Maura's ankles. Maura lit the last of a few cinnamon and vanilla candles, turned on the Red Sox game.

"Damn..." Jane hung her coat by the door, feeling close to tongue-tied at Maura's incredibly thoughtful gestures. They were almost enough to take her mind off the still very cryptic evidence that threatened her and complicated the case.

Finishing a thorough scratching of Jo's belly, Maura stage whispered "Ms. Friday, did you notice your dinner? I got the organic salmon and sweet potato kibble I know your mother refuses to buy you." On hearing the word 'dinner,' Jo had - decidedly without pretense or grace - launched herself upright, skittered across the tile and slid frantically into her food dish.

"Oh, thanks. Why you gotta make me the bad cop?" Jane tossed up her hands, but her eyes glinted.

"Umm...Because you're the only cop?" Maura offered, handing the detective an icy bottle of lager.

"Touché" Jane took a long swig after tapping the neck of her beer against Maura's wine glass.

"Touché!? - Très Bon, Jane! Je ne savais pas que vous étiez apprenez le français. Peut-être que bientôt, nous pouvons regarder un film ensemble sans avoir besoin de sous-titres!"

Jane nearly choked as she lowered her drink from her lips.

"Umm... ¿Que?" Her knowledge of the French language already heavily taxed by "Touché," she resorted to poor and broken Spanish.

Realizing any further extra-Anglican attempts would amount to teasing bordering on torment, Maura said simply, "I was just complimenting you on your linguistics, Jane."

"Ohh, then by all means, 'donka shayne"

"Danke Schön." Maura couldn't help herself but correct Jane's pronunciation.

"You're welcome." Jane was in on the joke this time.

"No-" Maura was grinning now. Watching the playful look dance across Jane's eyes in the candle light was making her knees a little weak. "Danke schön is the correct German pronunciation."

"Not if you're Wayne Newton."

"I'm not familiar with his work."

Jane laughed out loud, had to set her beer on the counter.

"He's one of the Vegas Germans. Very rare." At Maura's tilted eyebrow, Jane shook her head, still laughing. "Never mind."

The doctor made a soft 'mmm' sound that was somewhere between confusion and amusement. She brought the crisp pinot to her lips and took a slow swallow.

Jane's mouth went dry. Maura's tongue flickered almost imperceptibly along the edge of her mouth as she set her glass down next to Jane's forgotten beer.

The very last reds and pink of sunset angled their way in above the doorway, joined ricocheting candle light. Maura took a step closer to the dark haired detective, her tall heels tapping against the tile in two distinct clicks - like gears falling into place. A machine beginning to move.

The two women stood less than a foot apart in the glimmering kitchen. Behind them, the baseball game erupted - the crack of a bat, the cheers of a grateful home crowd and the fevered pitch of the announcers' voices calling in a Boston grand slam.

Jane didn't even notice. She was still staring at Maura's mouth.

"Jane..." Maura's voice was low and thick. Jane quickly darted her gaze from soft lips to deep, searching green eyes - flecked with gold and flashing.

Both knew they needed to talk.

Years of friendship, all dictates of logic and maturity and proper decision making - everything in them that beat methodically - cautioned in the name of slowing down and regaining control.

And none of that mattered. Not even a little bit.

Not when Jane stepped closer and could smell Maura's perfume. Not when Maura watched Jane's eyes, pupils dilated and something like lightening racing through. Not as Jane reached out and gently cupped Maura's jaw, ran the pad of her thumb with aching slowness over a bottom lip. And definitely not when Maura's eyes fluttered closed and she let out a soft, small sound that cut right through Jane - sharp and sweet and Ohh Fuckkk...

There was no going back.

In an instant, Jane's mouth covered Maura's and the world exploded. Frantic and forceful, Maura clung to Jane, pulled her hard, closer. Impossibly closer. Had Maura not such an understanding of classical physics, she would have said she was trying for them to occupy the same space. Her understanding of quantum mechanics aimed for simply being everywhere at once. Her hands roamed and stroked and clawed until she'd managed to extricate Jane's shift from her pants. At the sensation of Jane's stomach below her fingertips - smooth, soft and hard all at the same time - Maura moaned into Jane's mouth, unapologetic and almost feral.

Jane's heart bounced and her blood pounded like a thunderstorm. Touching Maura felt so good - so incredibly, unmistakably, so heartachingly good that Jane...

...Jane's mind was no longer functioning much beyond pure sensation and desperate, pent up want. Maura's mouth was warm, wet - a tropical cove she wanted to swim into, never out. When Maura found her bare skin with deft fingers and let out a keening moan, she knew she was happily drowning, lost at sea and to a new intoxication.

Tongues moved in tangles, velvet on velveteen. Jane's hands wound in soft blonde waves, anchoring Maura to her mouth. A desperate part of her was terrified this was all some beautiful, transient dream, that all the warmth and magic of kissing Maura might suddenly evaporate. But the sticky-sweet pain of Maura's elegant fingernails digging into her flesh, the powerful, feverish way Maura returned her kisses was better than any dream she'd ever had. She thought she might liquify.

Maura had been waiting for this since five minutes after she first met Jane. She'd been waiting for Jane to figure it all out for herself and she'd been waiting a long, long time. And now she was going to make up for all those lost years.

"Jane-" The name came out part gasp, part moan as their lips parted, each breathing raggedly, ecstatic and slightly disoriented. "Jane" Maura tried again, willing coherence from her swollen lips. "Jane...More Jane...Please..."

Close enough.

The way Maura said her name sent shivers through every nerve in Jane's body. Hearing "more" and "please" turned those shivers into live current that threatened to rip her apart from the inside out.

"God damn..." Jane growled, her mouth at Maura's throat, grazing the delicate skin against her teeth.

The flicker of Jane's tongue at her jugular... the way Jane's hands laced in her hair and tilted her head back, revealed her neck... Maura felt raw, open. Wonderfully, deliciously exposed. She saw a lioness bringing down a gazelle and her pulse rocketed. Silk pooled between her legs. Jane's mouth - smooth and gentle, dangerous and reverent - was the only thing that existed for Maura, the only feeling and thought her brain could focus on - or wanted to...

...Which is why it took her several moments and a series of muttered curses against her throat for her to realize that both their cell phones were ringing.

"Rizzoli!" A frustrated bark greeted the unfortunate dispatcher on Jane's line.

"Dr..." Maura squeaked and then coughed. "This is Dr. Isles."

"Yeah, on my way."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, thank you."

It could have been awkward. There could have been instant fear and regret, the averting of gazes. But Jane looked deep and hard into Maura's eyes, once again traced her thumb over Maura's lower lip.

"This conversation isn't over."

"Damn right." Maura's flushed response elicited a grin and a wink from Jane.

"Language, Dr. Isles."


	4. Chapter 4

They were quiet on the ride to the crime scene. Jane's brain was pacing, hoping they weren't on their way to another victim connected to the first. Jane already felt like she had blood on her hands. And while nothing about the first kill specifically referenced Hoyt, Jane's gut told her there was a connection. She just had to find it.

"Jesus..." Jane trailed off as she lifted the edge of the sheet covering the victim's face. a sick feeling rolled inside her as she followed the angular lines of the woman's face. she could have been looking in a mirror. pulling the sheet back farther, Jane saw the lesions. first the one at the throat and then... then the hands... Jane's face stayed fixed and hard, but her heart lurched and thumped around her chest. She wasn't surprised exactly... it followed that the killer would mark his target like this, like Jane... but the visceral realness, the immediacy of seeing the sick logical progression take form... She steadied herself with a deep breath and tried to think of nothing for a moment, like Maura's meditation tapes suggested... she succeeded for a split second, a cool dry place she couldn't quite see... but then the punch of blood and Hoyt's face above her...

She shivered and stood up. Her voice was hushed as she turned to Korsack.

"Do we have anything?"

"No. Not really. Lab'll look at the netting, but my guess is that he just used what he found on the scene again."

"Yeah... And how the fuck is he dumping a body under a pier without anyone seeing anything?"

Korsack gave her a look.

"Ok, without any useful, unintoxicated witnesses who can give me more than - and I quote - "I saw something dark and lumpy under the wharf-" her voice carried a heavy southie accent. "-but I just thought it was two sea lions doin' it."

The beginning of a storm was whipping in off the harbor and her hair laced damp fingers across her cheek.

The body was found in the same manner as the first - left in the shallows around the pier, tied loosely to the pilings with discarded crab netting. They would review the pier's surveillance video again, but, as with the first, Jane doubted there would be any obvious sign of a vehicle or boat making the drop off.

This guy was clean, neat and silent.

"Hey Maur, what's that yellow inside her nose." Maura gently pulled at the nostril.

"Looks like paper. I'll let you know after I remove it back at the lab."

"C'mon Maura, can't u just pull it out now so we can see what it says?" Jane was sharper than she meant to be and she saw the flicker if hurt glance over Maura's eyes. Immediately she softened, stood behind the doctor and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sorry. I'm just... you know."

Maura gave Jane a wan smile.

"I do know. it's ok Jane... "

Their eyes locked for a beat. Maura cleared her throat

"No.. we.. I just don't want to disturb anything... any tiny particulate would be a gift at this point. Whoever is doing this has a thorough knowledge of forensics and isn't leaving anything that could be an identifier..."

"Yeah, he's almost *surgical*" Jane snorted, hands on her hips. "Ok, so, I'm gonna go talk to the guy that found her... Maybe this one'll have a BAL below frat boy levels. Maura... Meet you for coffee in the morning?"

Despite the danger and tragedy, Maura felt her heart leap...

There was something invigorating about being the familiar of death... when your career sat u square between human life and final expiration dates, everything was in technicolor. Her fear was palpable, but so was the love she felt for Jane, which was filling her heart to bursting.

You didn't want to waste a lot of time on the extraneous moral dilemma of whether one should or should not allow oneself to be turned on while crouching over a corpse. Of course, if one started getting aroused because of the corpse, or one began to *require* said corpse's presence to achieve sexual gratification well, then it might be time to re-evaluate. but as it was, if Maura couldn't allow herself to think of death in one thought and sex in the next she'd end up spending so much of her time thinking neutral, buffer thoughts that she'd have very little time for either mortuary science or eroticism.

"Yes, I'd like that." Maura's eyes glittered at the lopsided lovesick teenager grin that slid across Jane's mouth.

"Great, I'll see u back at the ...coal mine." Jane bit her lower lip as she turned to try and make a graceful exit. Maura tried unsuccessfully to hide her laughter as Jane stutter stepped over her own feet. "Um... invisible baby seal!" Jane ducked her head as she backed away.

"I'll call animal control." Maura called out as Jane offered a mock salute.

The smile dropped from Maura's face as she turned back to the body at her feet. She might be able to flirt with Jane over a corpse, but Maura's brain was just as adept at switching right back over to a mechanical processing mode. The body became a thing, a puzzle to be solved. She adapted with a neutral detachment - separating soul from body. Maura would take a few moments here and there to mentally pay her respects, acknowledge the humanity under her gloves and scalpel - but those moments were carefully chosen. Mostly, she imagined herself an explorer - each body a new continent to be wandered across, containing minerals and forests that would prove useful. She was an excavator of truth and each body was a catacomb.

It was creepy if you looked at it the wrong way - but beautiful if you could transcend the stigmas.

Maura sighed as she stared at the victim, eyes stopping at each hand and again at the cut to the throat. Jane's injuries, Jane's scars.

She stood, turned to one of the techs, "Bag her please. Make sure you get all the crab netting as well." She gave Jane a small wave and half a smile as she walked back up the beach. Maura was both eager and terrified to start the autopsy.

...

Jane cracked her neck in the elevator, like pushing a physical reset button. this was how she rode through the crap... paddled out and caught the wave that felt right. overthinking usually ended up in sputtering wipe out...

Talking to the fisherman who had the unfortunate privilege of finding the victim hadn't resulted in much - and she found herself more pre-occupied with thoughts of Charles Hoyt.

She knew she had to keep an open mind - getting fixated on finding a connection to Hoyt could end up sending her spiraling in a useless direction if she was wrong. but she didn't think she was wrong. Her skin prickled. She could feel the shadows of Charles Hoyt floating in, coloring her landscape again.

The elevator doors opened and Jane walked into the morgue.

Maura hadn't slept. It was after midnight by the time she was done at the scene and her nerves were wound like tight steel. Starting the autopsy immediately was the only way to keep herself focused and maintain any sense of calm. Alone in the early hours, the morgue felt like the eye of a hurricane - silent, pressurized - a cocoon of eerie stillness. Maura took small, even breaths..


End file.
